2010 Toyota Yaris HB

[JustPassinThru]

Originally Posted by CTScott

Up there rust proofing may not be a bad idea. I have been rebuilding an 07 that lived in Ohio and am pretty amazed as to how much rust there is on the underside. There was one really bad spot where one of the floor plugs was out of position and it allowed the road salt to soak into the padding under the carpet, rusting the area from above and below.

Extended warranties are always a gamble. Theoretically with such a reliable vehicle you should not need it, but being pre-owned, you never know how the original owner treated it.

Does rustproofing a USED car do any good?

It's been years since I've considered Ziebart or Tuff-Kote - which once were the titans of the biz. Mostly, what they did was cause OTHER kinds of rust - their compounds would prevent open surface rust but cause it in crevasses and seams.

At the time (1970s) they wouldn't warranty a job on a car on the road more than three months (some exceptions made on examination). Round about that time polymer coats and hot-dips started making inroads; and both those companies shriveled to irrelevance.

But the point seemed to be, do it new or not at all.

[CTScott]

Originally Posted by JustPassinThru

Does rustproofing a USED car do any good?

It's been years since I've considered Ziebart or Tuff-Kote - which once were the titans of the biz. Mostly, what they did was cause OTHER kinds of rust - their compounds would prevent open surface rust but cause it in crevasses and seams.

At the time (1970s) they wouldn't warranty a job on a car on the road more than three months (some exceptions made on examination). Round about that time polymer coats and hot-dips started making inroads; and both those companies shriveled to irrelevance.

But the point seemed to be, do it new or not at all.

I believe it does. I coated the bottom of my 09 and my 08 with Rhinoshield truck bed coating (which is a urethane paint). Neither had any evidence of rust when I did it, but I have been under enough Yaris to see that they will rust underneath if not protected. The Yaris is painted on the bottom at the factory and has a couple patches of a coating, which I believe is for sound deadening, but does not have a true rust proofing applied. The dealer offered it (but did not recommend spending the money on it) when I bought my 09 as a new car.

My thought on rustproofing a non new car is to ensure that all existing rust has been treated and then to apply something that will prevent the paint from wearing away while also avoiding plugging any areas intended for drainage.

I agree on the Ziebart and Tuff-Kote issues, having witnessed them first hand back in the day. Cars were also built differently back then, where they had many areas that ended up trapping water. My 72 Plymouth Scamp was a great example of that. Every single Scamp/Duster from that era had the big rot through spot, right behind the rear wheels, due to a seam that would plug up and hold water.